The kids aren’t alright: Ugly Renaissance Babies

This baby appears to have a bit of a 5 o'clock shadow. Photos courtesy of Ugly Renaissance Babies

I took a few art history classes in college — actually I was one class short of an art history minor, which makes me very much an expert, naturally — but I could just never get into Renaissance-period art. For me, modern art was the thing. Who isn’t fascinated by the fact that fake dead horses hanging from the ceiling and jars filled with human urine can be considered priceless works of art?

Renaissance art, however, is not without merit: Sometimes it’s unintentionally hilarious, which is the best kind of hilarious. The blog Ugly Renaissance Babies shares images of often-religious Renaissance works that feature, well, really strange depictions of babies.

For Pete’s sake, have you ever really looked at these things? Why did some of these Renbabies have six-pack abs? Should we be concerned about how many of them appear to be drinking wine? Also I’m pretty sure some of these babies are in their early 40s. A few of these infants look like they’re nursing hangovers and Mother Mary simultaneously.